BOSSES at a Birmingham nightclub are cracking open the Champagne after being declared the city’s top boozer.

Gatecrasher in the city centre’s Broad Street was crowned overall winner of the Best Bar None 2010 awards at a glittering ceremony held at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre.

More than 100 premises licenced to sell alcohol in the city entered the awards organised by Birmingham City Council in a bid to recognise where bars are doing a good job, discouraging over-exuberance and preventing alcohol-related crime.

A team of assessors form the council, West Midlands Fire Service and West Midlands Police, spent months visiting each establishment that had entered the gongs to probe every aspect of how they are run and give them a score.

Those with the highest scores were whittled down to a short-list and a panel of judges selected the winners of the ten awards that were up for grabs – best city centre pub; city centre bar; suburban pub; suburban bar; nightclub; hotel bar; independent venue; university/student bar; Best Bar None; and the People’s Choice Award – chosen by listeners of Birmingham-based radio station BRMB.

Gatecrasher, which opened just two years ago, was not only named Best Bar None, but it also scooped the prize for the city’s top nightclub, beating off competition from Flares in Broad Street, Southside’s O2 Academy, Reflex clubs in Sutton Coldfield, the Arcadian and Broad Street; Air in Digbeth and Risa in Broad Street.

Jacqui Kennedy, director of Regulatory Services at the council, said: “We are so proud to be involved in the licence trade in Birmingham, all these venues take their responsibility selling alcohol very seriously and these awards go some way to reflect that.

“Their pride in their work helps to make Birmingham a proper local city with a local heart.”

Ann Hyland, project officer at the council’s Regulatory Services, added: “It’s been a real delight to be able to recognise the hard work of all of Birmingham’s drinking establishments and I applaud all of their efforts in making the city a safe and responsible place to enjoy a night out.”

In their third year, the awards are supported by the Home Office, the British Institute of Inn-keeping (BII) and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA).

As well as those who won the ten gongs, a further 82 venues received a plaque to show that they had left assessors impressed with their efforts in managing and running their establishments.